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Life Itself (2018)
Intersectional stories provide an motional rollercoaster
A true gem with an undeserving user score. A film that explores the ups and downs of life, it's branching and development trough several intersecting histories that in the end, is but one: a portrait of life itself.
With a beautiful story, great acting and a touching score might have you on tears by the end of it with a resonating message: that trough its ups and downs, it's pains and joys... life itself as a whole is beautiful.
RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) (2022)
Great visuals do not make up for terrible everything else
Can't deny that in the visual department this movie delivers. Sets, art direction, costumes, color grading, lighting.. all are top notch and the score is good too, but technical prowess cannot make up for the terrible story and overly ridiculous and forced action scenes. Might be slighty entertaining if you shut your brain off (coma level) which is difficult when
from the start you're thrown into a ridiculous scene that makes the Matrix Brawling fight look like sanitized and serious choreography. The story has been n done many times before and nothing had real substance to it. Ridiculousness can work, Everything Everywhere All At Once did it a few months ago for example, but here it just felt like too much filler, too much crazy for the sake of it.
3 stars for the great tech specs.
Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ Day Special (2021)
Special?
This is just a collection of trailers and teasers all spliced together, seriously.
Even a voice over narration (which I hate) detailing the new MCU phases and the connections between the shows would have taken this out of pure advertisement territory and justified it being labeled as "short" and "documentary".
Nothing "special" about it.
Tenet (2020)
Nolan just made a masterpiece!
I can see why many people disliked the movie and found it convoluted or hard to follow. On a first viewing not everyone will get it.
I risk sounding pedantic, but being a sci-fi fan and familiar with concepts of overlapping timelines and time travel, I had no problem following (or at times predicting) the complex story that Nolan masterfully penned and directed for our amazement. Movies like Primer, Memento and Predestination have touched on the subject of multiple viewpoints across an self intersecting looped timeline or split editing before, but Nolan has just raised the bar to an insane level on a fast paced, action packed, intelligent film that deserves multiple views.
Hollywood spits so much watered down, committee movies these days that its truly refreshing to see a smart jewel shine among the generic pop corn flicks landscape.
Bravo Nolan!
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Great origin story
I went in the cinema with low expectations as Hollywood adaptations of Manga have a terrible record. But having Rodriguez and Cameron involved assured not just a visual spectacle and great action, but a faithful adaptation of one of the most beloved Manga ever printed. The story is convulted at points, having crammed a couple of the volumes into an origin movie with little character development and sometimes cheesy dialog but that does not take away from this jewel of cyberpunk Sci fi: the amazing world building, character design, incredible animation and efects (worthy of an Oscar) and the intense battle scenes overcome any lack of depth that critics will surely point. This is an origin story with a inconclusive ending on which Alita has to overcome challenges ahead while solving the pieces from a forgotten past.
This is pure and raw grade A entertainment. Sit back and enjoy the ride, it is one of the most fun and exhilarating movies of lately.
A Cure for Wellness (2016)
A possible cult masterpiece ruined by a terrible ending
This movie had the potential to be a cult classic: from the opening shots you fall in love with its beautiful and captivating imagery. Some of the shots are visual masterpieces, no exaggeration. The directing, editing, acting and score are close to masterful for the first hour and complement each other in a captivating way. The pacing is slow but effective as events drag you in and take their time to be fleshed out, allowing your mind to wander around what you are experiencing.
And then... After an hypnotizing hour of cinema magic where the Kubrik-esque mood and the thoughtfully crafted mystery play with your emotions, the plot starts to unfold into a mediocre Shutter Island wannabe that goes on for too long without a proper resolution. Had the movie ended in the scene where the protagonist (Lockhart) asks the little girl (Hannah) "why would anyone want to leave?" and leave all the questions to be answered by the viewer using all the clues hinted throughout the film, the sad and unresolved finish would have made this an instant cult classic.
Instead a rushed and ridiculous, over the top ending filled of clichés was added to quickly wrap things up resulting in a frustrating experience that completely shatters what the movie conveyed until that point. I felt cheated, I felt frustrated that such an amazing work turned so quickly into a cheesy crashing b- movie (with my 1.5 hours of fascination dragged along with it). It was like watching The Shinning turn into b-rated slasher where "the boy gets the girl and against all odds foils all evil plans".
For its visual mastery alone, it is worth a watch, and if you appreciate or love the movie bear in mind that the ending is as ridiculous and incoherent with the rest of the film as it can be and this might pull you off.
Shockwave: Darkside (2014)
Terrible in all aspects
Avoid this piece of crap at all costs. I really tried to find any redeeming quality in the movie (if it can be called one) but I sincerely can't find any: the script is terrible, the production value is even worse and the direction might as well have come from a high school kid.
The movie lacks structure, any decent line of dialog or engaging plot, it has lame HUD's superimposed at random times and shows what might be the worst space suit design even for a low budget film.
I can't give it a 1 simply because I can imagine that somewhere there is a worse film worth of that rating, but I have yet to find it.
Sense8 (2015)
The Wachoskis are back!
After the masterpiece that was The Matrix (my favorite movie of all time) I've been waiting for the Wachoskis to blow me again with each film they made ever since. While all their movies have incredible artistic merit and are truly ambitious, aside from Cloud Atlas and V for Vendetta none had made me care for the characters and left me unfulfilled (and Jupiter Ascending was exceedingly disappointing).
Sense8 changed that: it truly made me feel deeply for everyone on screen, slowly building a connection with the characters just as they are building connection with each other. Yes, it is beautifully shot, has great photography and editing (but that is expected from the siblings) but the true beauty of the show lies in its deeper portrayal of a simple idea: we are all human regardless of our differences and we are all one. This is done by taking the time to slowly build a narrative that make us care.
Humanistic values arise from a 12 hour global showcase of lifestyles and cultures, of struggles and sci fi like few shows have even attempted to do so. Finally after 16 years they delivered: the masterpiece I was expecting from them to blow me once more.
Bravo!
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Flawed but enjoyable. Worth the watch in cinemas for the visuals!
I understand the critics that dissected this movie and hammered for the convulsive exposition and pacing. The film does lack In that department and at moments I felt lost in thoughs about the implications of previous expositions rather the immersing myself in the current scenes. That said, I don't think it deserves the low rating that critics have put on this. While the acting and script might not win Oscars they serve their purpose and deliver, certainly they where not terrible as many imply. Perhaps people keep waiting for a new Matrix and the huge success of that masterpiece eclipses any further project that the Wachowskis presents us? I've seen far worse movies with better critical acceptance and also masterpieces that only got the recognition they deserved after years passed. I don't have any doubt that time will will tip the scale in favor of this movie and that it will attain cult status among many sci fi junkies. The visuals are simply mind blowing! As a cgi artist I was surprised at the amount of detail and the incredible quality of the special effects. The great orchestral score helped pushing the feeling of grandiose spectacle and the costumes and world design are nothing but the best I've seen in years. Certainly an enjoyable experience worth the watch in th big screen to be fully appreciated. If you are a sci fan don't think twice and go see it! Movies like this need support even if they fail at some departments because they push the limits and take risks that too often big studios are not willing to back up.
Visuals, score, art department: 10/10 acting, casting: 7/10 Script, dialogues, exposition: 5/10
7.5 from me, going to see again for sure!
John Carter (2012)
I was in for a surprise!
Being a hard core genre fan, I've come to dislike much of the recent sci-fi movies since they mostly consist of a CGI fest trying to fill every hole in the movie (from plots to premises, characters or tech). I read some reviews on John Carter and dismissed it as yet another visual galore without substance, trying to milk the summer audiences when it was released last year.
Today I finally got the chance to see it and boy was I wrong. This film roots itself on simple, even cheesy (yet very likable) ingredients that mesh into a fun ride. Although predictable, watching it with very low expectations had me filled with surprise after surprise as the story unfolded. I came to love the score, the characters and their tried and proved development arch and the VFX (they are pretty good and they serve the story, not a single action scene is trown in simply for the eye candy.
Really fun, don't miss it.
Robin Hood (2010)
Entertaining and visually splendid... but pretty stupid at times.
Asides from cinematography, production and music score, there's not much in this one. Entertaining enough for a rental once you lower your expectations.
There are many things that are almost idiotic. To have these amateurish mistakes in a RS film was quite a surprise for me:
- 19th century folk music player by 12th century villagers. - Lady Mariam, a NOBLE working the land and behaving like a 20th century liberated woman? - The final battle scene with D-day landing crafts and orphans kids riding ponies fighting French invaders. - So Robin Hood is called like that why exactly? Because he mentioned ONCE the word "hood" while they stole the grain? And he gets ostracized for what reason? Because someone told King John that the French surrendered to him? - No on notices that Robin is 10 years younger and has dark hair when he passes as Locksley.
Im going to stop there..
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Boy, was I impressed!
I watched this film without having seen any trailers or heard about the movie after finding myself with a full Alice in Wonderland Monday showcase. I love animated films so I went along with my friend to this one instead.
In the past Dreamworks pieces had made me yawn (with the exception of Kung Fu Panda and the Shrek series) and for starters the title and poster image made me think this was going to be a rather stupid movie. The fact that only 5 people, me included, where in the 10 p.m. showing didn't help to bring my expectations up.
Boy was I wrong! The story follows a good crafted arch with a nice tempo, showcasing some of the most impressive and beautiful CG imaging I've seen. I don't feel like going into details about why I loved this film so much: most critics (which I've read after returning home) and other reviewers have done the job better than I could ever do. Suffice to say that characters, animation, art direction and plot are top notch, enough to make me write my first review on IMDb to encourage others to share the experience.
Go take your kids or watch this one by yourself, specially in 3D like I did. It is simply a beautiful, fun and spectacular piece of work!